Recent advances in the electronics industry have been compared in their impact on society to the changes experienced during the industrial revolution. Advances in integrated circuit technology have spawned entire new industries and greatly enhanced the capabilities of existing products.
One specific integrated circuit, the microprocessor, has been particularly influencial in the electronics revolution. The microprocessor has replaced components and/or added new features to existing products. It has also made possible the personal computer, a product which has created a new multi-billion dollar industry in a short ten year time period.
Communication applications for the microprocessor and its peripheral supporting components have been dramatic. Electronic switching and transmitting circuitry has revolutionized the telecommunications industry. Networks of computers share data bases and computing capabilities. Within the recent past, computer based communications terminals have been used for commercial banking, information retrieval, and home entertainment.
Noncomputer communications products have been less swift in embracing sophisticated integrated circuit technology. Telephone answering and recording systems have become widely accepted as one consumer oriented product useful in the home. These systems are rather inflexible, however, in the way they store information. A typical recorder is actuated by a telephone call, records any communications received for a particular period, and then turns itself off.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,174,517, which issued on Nov. 13, 1979 to Mandel, proposes a communications system for use in the home. In accordance with the Mandel system, a central controller is coupled to one or more remote units through a house power distribution system. The Mandel system is no more than an on-off type control like the telephone answering system mentioned above. There is no capability, for example, to program operation of the remote units to cause them to automatically perform in a particular way without further input from the user.